The Department of Information Resources (department) adopts the repeal of 1 TAC Chapter 206, §§206.1 - 206.3, 206.50 - 206.55, 206.70 - 206.75, concerning State Web Sites; and new 1 TAC Chapter 206, §§206.1 - 206.3, 206.50 - 206.54, 206.70 - 206.74, concerning State Websites. New §§206.1, 206.50, 206.54, 206.70, and 206.74 are adopted with changes to the proposed text as published in the November 11, 2011, issue of the Texas Register (36 TexReg 7624) and will be republished. The repeal of §§206.1 - 206.3, 206.50 - 206.55, 206.70 - 206.75; and new §§206.2, 206.3, 206.51 - 206.53, 206.71, 206.72, and 206.73 are adopted without changes to the proposed text and will not be republished.

The repeal and new rules are adopted to simplify existing rules and eliminate unnecessary rules.

The department received no public comments during the 30-day comment period. However, department staff recommended an additional provision to §206.54 and §206.74. This provision reflects a new statutory requirement enacted by Senate Bill 701 (82nd Texas Legislature, Regular Session) which requires a state agency or institution of higher education to post high-value data sets, created or maintained by the agency or institution, on its Internet website home page or another intuitive location accessible from the home page. The change to the rule specifies the link be present on the home or site policies page of a state agency or institution of higher education. In §206.1 the definition for "High-value data set" has been added.

The repeal and new rules apply to state agencies and institutions of higher education.

The repeal is adopted pursuant to §2054.052(a), Texas Government Code, which authorizes the department to, respectively, adopt rules for the state websites and to implement its responsibilities under Chapter 2054, Texas Government Code.